"I've never seen anything like it," said Ian Thirsk, head of collections at the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum in London. The Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk is "the best preserved example of a Second World War aircraft I've seen for many, many years."

The plane's pilot is thought to have been Flt. Sgt. Dennis Copping, though no trace of his body has been found at the crash site.

Found in March in the Wadi al-Jadid region of southern Egypt, the propeller of the P-40 Kittyhawk was twisted during its crash landing in 1942. Pictures taken by Polish oil worker Jakub Perka show that the U.S.-made fighter-bomber survives largely intact, though the engine and landing gear broke off on impact.

At the suspected time of the crash, Flight Sergeant Copping, the P40's likely pilot, was on a repair run to an RAF desert base—the plane's landing gear had become stuck in the down position. He was probably forced down by an empty fuel tank, the RAF Museum's Thirsk said.

Copping was never heard from again. "The pilot obviously got disorientated and lost his bearings," Thirsk said.

P-40s take to the wild blue yonder in U.S. livery during World War II.

Built by the Buffalo, New York-based Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the P-40 was largely known to U.S. forces as the Warhawk. The British gave their roughly 3,000 P-40s (such as the newfound fighter in Egypt) the nom de guerre "Kittyhawk."

Could fuselage bullet holes be clues to why the RAF plane fell to Earth 70 years ago? Possibly, but it seems more likely that these are fresher wounds, caused by gun-toting locals, Thirsk said.

"I think it's been used for target practice since it was first found," he said.

Photograph by Jakub Perka, BNPS

Maker's Mark

Even if it'd been full, the World War II plane's 52-gallon fuel tank—as indicated by the manufacturer's label (pictured)—may not have been enough to save 24-year-old Flt. Sgt. Dennis Copping as he flew back from the front line for repairs in 1942.

"The pilot was a long way away from the operational area—he wasn't supposed to be there," Thirsk said. "He got lost and ran out of fuel."

At the time of the crash, the British Army was fighting German and Italian forces in the Battle of El Alamein—a key victory for the Allies in North Africa.

The Kittyhawk's V-12 engine almost looks in working order, despite having lain exposed to desert heat and sandstorms for 70 years.

The aircraft was well suited to desert operations, according to Thirsk. "It was very rugged, and it was capable of carrying a good bomb load."

Jakub Perka/BNPS.co.uk

Wrinkled Magazine

The Kittyhawk's ammunition—such as the bullet magazine pictured—and wing-set machine guns were found intact. What's more, the 70-year-old weaponry may still be in working order, judging by the Egyptian military's decision to remove the armaments for safekeeping.

In their time, those weapons were crucial air support for British ground troops.

"At the height of the desert battles, [P-40 pilots] were flying about four sorties a day, in answering calls from the Army for close support" in North Africa, Thirsk said.

(See pictures of Libya's "Unseen Sahara" from National Geographic magazine.)

Photograph by Jakub Perka, BNPS

Out of Range

After removing the Kittyhawk's radio (pictured) and batteries, the pilot appears to have stayed with the aircraft, at least initially.

Given how far the pilot had strayed off course, there was little chance of search parties finding him, Thirsk said.

Eventually, Thirsk speculated, "he tried to make a break for it, but the poor chap had no chance, because it was far into the desert and so remote."

Photograph by Jakub Perka, BNPS

Sanded Down

Decades of rasping desert sands have stripped much of the World War II fighter's paintwork as well as the fabric that covered much of the tail.

The metal bulk of the plane is remarkably well preserved, however, thanks to the dry, arid climate, Thirsk said.